The Impact of Weak Cognitive Skills On Learning The brain uses a foundational set of skills, called cognitive skills, to think and learn. Strong skills make learning easier. One or more weak skills, however, can impact how efficiently we grasp, process, remember and apply the things we are attempting to learn. Here’s a look at the learning process. You can see that how well our cognitive abilities work together really do determine content “sticks” and what doesn’t: Here’s a